Film Times & Capsules

RoboCop

This grim-faced reboot of Paul Verhoeven's hyperbolically violent, wonderfully subversive action movie parody from 1987 loses the original's sense of humor and most of its reason for being. Brazilian director José Padilha (Elite Squad) works up some decent tension, but the script is less of an adrenalized cop movie and more of a mouthy rumination on the ethics of allowing multinational security firms to turn dead cops into superpowered cyborgs. 108 minutes PG-13.